Which role has the shortest on stage time?

[therosenpants]

SomethingPeculiar said: "One that I'm surprised hasn't come up yet: The Phantom! For a first-billed, iconic leading role, the Phantom only has ~20 mins of stage time, right?"

He actually has about 40~ minutes of stage time, even off stage as there are a lot of parts over mic that the Phantom does every night. And he's sitting in the Angel for a good portion of All I Ask of You waiting for the reprise (and most people don't see him, but he is on the proscenium during the bits where he taunts Carlotta and the audience during Il Muto, which gets him ready for the AIAOY reprise).

BUT as one of the most coveted and famous roles on Broadway, it does seem to count for being a surprisingly short role, and ALSO getting the last bow of the night. 

 

[little_sally]

Lauren2 said: "I won't say who because I have to #KeepTheSecrets but alot of people in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

But most of the tracks in that show double and triple cast.

[hmaybway]

Glinda in The Wiz is about 5 minutes of stage time and Dee Dee Bridgewater won a Tony for it! 

[BroadwayAndSports]

Just saw THE NAP and they've got an actual World Snooker champion in the cast who shows up briefly twice in the 2nd act, plays a bit of snooker, and doesn't have any speaking lines. But you absolutely need him. 

[Huss417]

Dollypop said: "The role Marilyn Cooper played in WOMAN OF THE YEAR. One scene and song and she steals the show
"

And as I said earlier in my post. She also won the Tony Award for it. :) It stole and stopped the show. 

[Huss417]

GavestonPS said: "A friend of mine who played Fantine in LES MIZ on Broadway said it was the easiest gig she ever had: come out for 10or so minutes, sing the biggest showstopper of the score, and then catch up on your reading until the curtain call."

 

If she waits till the curtain call she will miss being in the last scene. :)

 

[OKBroadwayFan]

GavestonPS said: "Speaking of Tony Awards for very short appearances, there's BONNIE in APPLAUSE. The performer, Bonnie Franklin, won a Tony Award and got her own sitcom just for singing the title song. The amateur productions I've seen since I saw the original have used Bonnie as a dancer in all the ensemble numbers, but I don't know if they did that in the Broadway show.

If not, that's a really short part. She only sings the verse and first chorus before the ensemble takes over the vocals."

Bonnie Franklin was nominated for a Tony and performed   on the Tony Awards telecast, but she lost to Melba Moore.   But you are correct a very short appearance that led to a very successful career.  Did she ever make it back to Broadway after her TV show?  I know she was a frequent presenter on the Tony Awards due to her TV fame.

[OKBroadwayFan]

Here is her Tony performance    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJFueAcQWY0

[SW:TDBOFS/ITW Fan]

Pirelli in Sweeney Todd. His first song "The Contest" is usually cut in half for time, his second song "Pirelli's Death" is only a few lines and is cut im the movie and... well, he dies in act one, unlike the other 8 characters. If you count non singing roles, theres also Mr. Fogg who only has one scene (tho i think he's usually played by someone in the chorus)
The Wolf, Granny and Cinderella's Mother from Into the Woods would also count if not for doubling. Cinderella's Father on the other hand, only shows up to say a line and then go off screen every once in a while (which is likely intentional, considering if he were present, well, Cinderalla would be a very different character. Fittingly both the movie and some productions (like the Digital Theatre production) remove him entirely and it doesn't effect the story in any way)

[yankeefan7]

"Didn't Groff say King George is onstage for nine minutes in Hamilton?"

Yes and he got Tony Nomination for those 9 minutes - lol.

[phantomcrazy14]

The male prostitute in Six Degrees of Separation. He literally was onstage naked for a minute if that, and had one line of dialogue which was a nice "F... You" I remember when the show ended and he came out at curtain call I was shocked that he had never made a reappearance

[thebookofwhizzer]

I wouldn't consider them some of the shortest roles ever, but Baby June and Baby Louise in Gypsy have a good portion of time in the first act and then don't come back for the rest of the show. In the recent London revival with Imelda Staunton, they didn't even bow at curtain call.

[thebookofwhizzer]

[thebookofwhizzer]

[thebookofwhizzer]

[thebookofwhizzer]

[Alex Kulak2]

The Mother in True West only appears in the final scene.

Father Dewis in Buried Child doesn't show up until halfway through Act Three

I saw The Doppelganger at Steppenwolf last spring, and there's a character that appears in the last 30 seconds and completely changes the plot.

In The Flick, there's a character who appears for 3 minutes in one scene in Act One, then as a different character in one scene at the end of Act Two.

Beverly has a fantastic monologue in the prologue of August: Osage County then never appears in the show again.

Dr. Sweet in Bug appears at the end of Act Two, and spends most of his time lying on the ground dead. (sorry, but I'm not putting a spoiler alert for a 22 year old play)

In terms of short stage time in relation to importance of role, Pulitzer is the main antagonist in Newsies, and he's in one scene in Act One where he sings "The Bottom Line", and two scenes in Act Two.

[kelsey1389]

 I don't think this is necessarily one of the absolute shortest, but I just saw Mean Girls and for someone who plays 3 separate characters, Jen Simard does not have a lot of stage time at all. The "Mrs. Heron" role is basically like 3 lines, Mrs. George has two relatively short scenes and Ms. Norbury probably has the longest part, but between the 3 roles it's still not a ton. I guess that's why they stick with one actress for all three roles?

[Alex Kulak2]

It's been a minute since I've read Proof (reminding myself to read it again), but doesn't the father only appear in one scene in Act One then a little bit in Act Two?